Tag Archives: Ministries

The awareness for the need to support families with children with disabilities is what motivated me and other members of the core team at Village Eulogia to found this organization. Over the years, we have been working to strengthen relationships between couples, parents and siblings, and parents and children with disabilities. As we work alongside the families, we began to experience disability as a gift from God. Through disability, God taught us more than we ever imagined. …Read More →

It is my hope and dream that by bringing the two groups together our kids will learn to see autism in a new light and have empathy for these kids struggling with enormous challenges. In this we, as a youth ministry, are living out the gospel of Jesus rather than just speaking about it. …Read More →

These parents all have stories of dropping off or picking up their daughter or son from a ministry environment only to be told that the church is not set up to handle their child. These families have all experienced what Mary and Joseph felt when they were trying to find a place for their child to be born. …Read More →

In this free resource, made available by Covenant Theological Seminary, the director of MNA’s Special Needs Ministries offers firsthand experience, practical resources, and creative ideas for helping the church be more effective at ministering to and alongside of those touched by disability. Click here to view this valuable resource Since May 2007, Stephanie O. Hubach …Read More →

Guest Post by Matthew Arguin, Assistant Curate-Coordinator of Outreach and Evangelism at Bishop Cronyn Memorial Church, Diocese of Huron, Anglican Church of Canada. This post was originally the content of a sermon Matthew delivered on August 25, 2013. Old Testament: Jeremiah 1:4-10 New Testament: Luke 13:10-17 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in …Read More →

1 Corinthians 12: 12-26 Paul writes to the Corinthians that our unique gifts, especially the gifts of those that appear to be weaker, are indispensableto the healthy functioning of the Body of Christ: “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need …Read More →

This is the fourth in a series of posts written by a mother of a son with autism, reflecting on her experience with her church community. Some of her observations serve as challenges to the way we do church, while others should be encouraging to the people who have made a difference in the lives of her and her family. The names in this story are fictional, but their experiences are not.

On the Joni and Friends Web Site I listened to an MP3 by Will and Arlyn Kantz and they really understand our needs. Our family can relate to almost every behavioral situation they spoke about, the challenges families face and even the fears of future challenges like puberty, programming, the workers, the sensory issues, congregational reactions, etc.

I would love to have a local church like the ones the Kantz’s help with inclusion programming.
Even one church like this in the area would be great.

I realize this particular couple (Will and Arlyn) not only have an autistic son but have great qualifications. They have done the work required and have put immense energy into the transformation. Their staged strategies for inclusion are thought through in a professional way.

Would a church body ever rise to this challenge on their own?

Most parents of children with disabilities do not have the qualifications, experience, energy, time or resources to instigate or even help implement something like this. Even as I write this, feelings of guilt resurface about not trying harder and doing more to figure something out for Michael. To be honest, though, we have so many things in his daily life that we have not figured out. It’s overwhelming to think of the energy and time required to figure out programming for Church as well.

There have always been people who have invested the energy and time to work out the programming for Nursery School, ABA and school. If a church really wants to work for inclusion or foster belonging for people with disabilities and their families a great first step would be listening to the Kantz’s MP3. Really, they have it right. Everyone in the congregation needs to be educated and not just immediate workers or teachers.

To the rest of the congregation this may look like an immense undertaking and adjustment, but think of how many more members would be able to join in fellowship and be ministered to!

Our Children’s pastor lovingly and consistently tried to accommodate Michael year after year. She said to us at one point that not only was she concerned about Michael but believed that others would benefit from him being there as well. …Read More →

Our church has supported us through prayer, financial aid and food or food vouchers and occasional visits. We also have a deaconess who is totally amazing, and she is the first person we’d call for anything! But do we feel like we belong? …Read More →

Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis MN has a professional and inspiring video to encourage people to get involved in their disability ministry. You can learn more about their ministry here and if you can’t access the video below you can watch it on YouTube here.

Do you have promotional tools to raise awareness of a disability ministry? Let us know!